


Snow White

by abbeyjewel



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 14:11:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6858202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbeyjewel/pseuds/abbeyjewel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Bucky goes into cryofreeze, Steve visits him often.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow White

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [pgnbri](http://pgnbri.tumblr.com), [slecnaztemnot](http://slecnaztemnot.tumblr.com/), and [katehbug](http://katehbug.tumblr.com) for being amazing and reading over this while I had anxiety! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

Bucky was safe. Steve trusted, and most importantly, Bucky trusted T'Challa to protect him. That didn't stop Steve from spending every free moment in the room with him, as if he were some sentry, whose only purpose was to protect Bucky from the world as he slept. 

Bucky was asleep. 

_Frozen._

And Steve hated it. He couldn't deny Bucky the dignity of his choice. Bucky had _wanted_ this, and... Steve didn't understand at all. He had spent enough time in the ice, enough to never want to be cold again, but Bucky didn't need to know Steve's selfishness. 

Instead, Steve sat in the room Bucky slept in. He refused to think about how Bucky wasn't actually asleep. He sat in a hard chair next to the chamber. He would sit for hours, sometimes talking to Bucky, other times just staring at his frozen form.

He wanted to wake Bucky up. He wanted Bucky to hear all the things he told him as he slept. He wanted to see what Bucky remembered. Wanted to touch him, to feel him again. 

Even when he had been awake, though, Steve hadn't been able to do those things. They had been busy, fighting and fleeing. And the brief moments they had to themselves, Bucky had been fragile, scared. Stiff. Steve couldn't touch him, not when Bucky so clearly didn't want it. He couldn't come up with the words to clear the air. 

Steve reached up to touch the glass over Bucky's face. The glass was cool, but not cold, as if it didn't hold a frozen human under it. This cryo chamber was nothing like the one HYDRA had. For such a large and seemingly powerful organization, their technology always seemed to be thrown together with scrap. It was much like how they had treated Bucky, and how they planned to treat the world they wanted to rule. 

This cryotube was modern, almost a beautiful piece of technology; at least it would be if it weren't holding his friend frozen. It was sleek, all glass and white, but it was Bucky's face that truly made the difference. In HYDRA's cryotube, Bucky's face was frozen in horror. Here, he looked at peace, like he was only sleeping. 

It reminded Steve of Snow White, which he had seen with Bucky when it first came out. Where all it would take is a kiss and Bucky would wake up. They both could live happily ever after. Steve daydreamed about it; opening the chamber, pressing his lips to Bucky's. Bucky would wake up, smile and call him a punk before kissing Steve, deeply and with the passion Steve had left out of his chaste kiss of life. 

Steve's heart raced with want, but he couldn't possibly go against Bucky's choice. Not when he'd spent 70 years having none. 70 years of torture, no bodily autonomy of any kind. No choices. 

T'Challa knew about the visits. All the former Avengers did. They all gave him his privacy, let him have his moments with Bucky. Moments he didn't think quite worked to make up for the 70 missing years, not with Bucky ~~frozen~~ asleep next to him. 

Surprisingly, the King of Wakanda was the only one to join Steve in his visits. Only occasionally, as the new king was a busy man. It surprised Steve, but he didn't object. The first visit T'Challa had joined him for had been spent in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a companionable one. 

The second visit, Steve quietly told T'Challa how they had met. It started in a whisper, as if Bucky would wake up if he was too loud. T'Challa was a great listener. He was quiet, listening intently, and asked questions that served to further the story; add details that Steve remembered but hadn't thought to include.

The next time they both visited, T'Challa had a story for him as well. He told Steve about his father. How he had been a great leader of their country and a great father. T'Challa admitted quietly how much he missed him, and Steve was grateful, as he had been, that even though Bucky was asleep, he was still alive.

T'Challa didn't visit very often, not at first. But soon it became a tradition, ritual. Their quiet, whispered stories and talks became louder, less serious. Steve found himself glancing up at Bucky to see how he'd react to a certain part of a story, only to be brought quickly back to earth by Bucky's frozen, sleeping features. He knew how the old Bucky would react to the conversations, but would this Bucky, tortured and brainwashed and so broken, react the same way? He didn't know, and until Bucky woke up for any length of time, he wouldn't know. 

Months after Bucky had been first frozen, and long after T'Challa and Steve had established their routine together, Steve admitted to T'Challa how scared he was. He wanted Bucky to be awake more than anything, but the idea scared him as well. Things were so different now, and not just because they had both been transported 70 years into the future, but they both had gone through so much. They weren't the same people anymore. Steve wasn't afraid of not loving Bucky anymore, he couldn't imagine that ever changing no matter what. But what if Bucky no longer loved Steve? No longer _could_ love Steve? 

Bucky was broken, tortured and brainwashed. His autonomy taken away for 70 years. Could Bucky love again? Could Bucky be happy again? Steve liked to think that he could. That Steve could make him happy again, have him love Steve again. But Steve also knew that wasn't how the world worked. No matter how much he wished it would. 

It was a selfish wish too, one that he was ashamed of. He did just want Bucky happy and safe after all, but he selfishly wanted more. He wanted Bucky's love.

T'Challa had been quiet after Steve's confession. He was quiet so long the silence grew uncomfortable and Steve wanted to squirm. It felt almost wrong to say it with Bucky so close by, even if there was no possible way that Bucky would hear him. It was already a dark secret Steve was ashamed of, but the silence was unbearable. He wanted to take it back, hide it in himself and never let anyone, especially not Bucky, know. 

T'Challa eventually broke the silence. "'He may say that he loves you; wait and see what he does for you.'" He was quiet again for a moment before continuing. "It was one of my mother's favourite proverbs." His mother had died in childbirth, it was a fact that T'Challa had mentioned to Steve not long ago. It was something they had in common, a parent who died before they knew them, and a parent who died when they were too young for the loss. 

"Some people prefer to show their emotions through their actions. I believe that, in the events before he was put in cryo, Bucky's actions proved just how much he cares for you. If he didn't love you so much, he wouldn't have done all the things he has for you.

It was Steve's turn to be quiet, letting T'Challa's words sink in. He thought about all that had happened before Bucky was frozen again. The moments they had when they weren't able to say anything, weren't able to touch. He thought about Bucky submitting himself to Tony for Steve, how easily he had been able to break out but hadn't until he was triggered. How even after, Bucky followed Steve. Into fights, to Siberia. Places he clearly did not want to go. He did it for Steve. 

Steve shivered from the revelation, then found himself on his feet. He had to move. To process the new information, but before he could get far, T'Challa grabbed his hand. He spun quickly and faced T'Challa, his eyes wide and body screaming for movement, to or away, he wasn't sure which. T'challa didn't say a word, instead he looked meaningfully at Steve, before letting his hand drop and stepping away again. 

Steve's heart was beating fast, but he couldn't make himself move again. He could only stare back at T'Challa. "He loves me." Steve whispered softly. T'Challa didn't move again, he only gave a brief nod. He stared meaningfully at Steve, and for a moment Steve couldn't catch his breath. Only when Steve nodded back, acknowledging T'Challa's meaning, not just about Bucky, but between them, did T'Challa look to the cryotube, the same look in his eyes. 

Only then did Steve truly understand what all T'Challa had done for not only him, but Bucky as well. Hiding them, protecting them, providing comfort and company. Emotions through actions. And T'Challa's actions were immense for someone who had known them only briefly. 

All of a sudden Steve could breathe again. It came out in a gasp and he had to move back. It was too much, something he hadn't even considered along with something he'd only hoped for. Steve hesitated, but eventually reached for T'Challa's hand again and gave him a brief smile. 

"I...," Steve paused. He couldn't say no, but he couldn't say yes either. His heart belonged to Bucky, and though he knew two or more people could easily be involved, he couldn't let himself do anything while Bucky slept. But T'Challa seemed to understand this and nodded. He didn't have to say anything, they both knew. 

Three months later, when it was time to wake Bucky up, they stood together. They didn't touch, let alone hold hands, but there was a closeness there that was waiting to be explored. Waiting for Bucky.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed it, please comment!! 
> 
> I'm on [tumblr!](http://whichfandomdoipick.tumblr.com)


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